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Foodie Friday: My Man's Belly
by Guest Writer, Valerie Whitmore Jicama is one of those veggies that for most of my cooking "career" I hadn't paid much attention to until a few years ago. They never were very appealing to me - all brown and earthy looking. They look like a big, dusty, squat potato
Fortunately my job allows me to try new ingredients so when I finally got around to trying jicama, I was sold.
Jicama is also known as a Mexican turnip, a Mexican water chestnut (its texture really reminds me of the water chestnuts used in Asian cooking), or a yam bean. It's pronounced HEECK-a-mah. It's very low in calories, only 35 calories/100 grams. And it's a good source of fiber and vitamin C. It can be eaten raw or cooked making it extremely versatile and a healthy choice for a snack.
When used raw, it has a crisp texture and mild, somewhat starchy flavor. It's very much like a raw potato but, well, edible. It works great in salads.
When cooked the texture softens and it gets just a hint of sweetness to it. I like it both raw and cooked, but I prefer cooked.
Jicama has grown in popularity thanks in part to some of the various diet crazes. Many diets omit crunchy foods (carby snacks), which many people crave. Jicama is a good substitute.
Mostly I've eaten jicama that has been included in another cooked dish. Until looking at blogs for this week's Foodie Friday, I hadn't really considered making jicama the main event of the dish.
Pam over at My Man's Belly just happened to be featuring her newest recipe: Jicama Fries.
Ok, I probably just lost a few of you with that screen capture from the blog. Eyes back here now. We're talking fries, remember?
Now, as Pam states in her post, these fries aren't going to fool anyone into thinking they are real potato French fries. But, they make a really good substitute if you are looking for a healthier, French fry-like snack.
And the recipe is so simple. All you do is peel, slice, bake
30 minutes later I had a great snack. So great, I didn't share. Sorry, Brent! (actually, I have another jicama so I can make more today. I might share then.) They work well with a variety of seasonings, so feel free to experiment. I went with spicy but I could also see doing a sweet/hot mixture with spices and a little brown sugar. Hmmm. I might have to make that second batch of jicama fries sooner rather than later.
Get the recipe: Spicy Jicama Fries
Visit My Man's Belly: https://mymansbelly.com/
Like on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mymansbelly
Follow on Twitter: https://twitter.com/mymansbelly
Also, you'll be glad to know that regular updates to this blog will be coming soon (more than just the Foodie Fridays!). We just finished a huge recipe testing event (spanned two days!) and as soon as the photos are updated I'll be featuring some of our yummy recipes again each week.
Fortunately my job allows me to try new ingredients so when I finally got around to trying jicama, I was sold.
Jicama is also known as a Mexican turnip, a Mexican water chestnut (its texture really reminds me of the water chestnuts used in Asian cooking), or a yam bean. It's pronounced HEECK-a-mah. It's very low in calories, only 35 calories/100 grams. And it's a good source of fiber and vitamin C. It can be eaten raw or cooked making it extremely versatile and a healthy choice for a snack.
When used raw, it has a crisp texture and mild, somewhat starchy flavor. It's very much like a raw potato but, well, edible. It works great in salads.
When cooked the texture softens and it gets just a hint of sweetness to it. I like it both raw and cooked, but I prefer cooked.
Jicama has grown in popularity thanks in part to some of the various diet crazes. Many diets omit crunchy foods (carby snacks), which many people crave. Jicama is a good substitute.
Mostly I've eaten jicama that has been included in another cooked dish. Until looking at blogs for this week's Foodie Friday, I hadn't really considered making jicama the main event of the dish.
Pam over at My Man's Belly just happened to be featuring her newest recipe: Jicama Fries.
Ok, I probably just lost a few of you with that screen capture from the blog. Eyes back here now. We're talking fries, remember?
Now, as Pam states in her post, these fries aren't going to fool anyone into thinking they are real potato French fries. But, they make a really good substitute if you are looking for a healthier, French fry-like snack.
And the recipe is so simple. All you do is peel, slice, bake
30 minutes later I had a great snack. So great, I didn't share. Sorry, Brent! (actually, I have another jicama so I can make more today. I might share then.) They work well with a variety of seasonings, so feel free to experiment. I went with spicy but I could also see doing a sweet/hot mixture with spices and a little brown sugar. Hmmm. I might have to make that second batch of jicama fries sooner rather than later.
Get the recipe: Spicy Jicama Fries
Visit My Man's Belly: https://mymansbelly.com/
Like on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mymansbelly
Follow on Twitter: https://twitter.com/mymansbelly
Also, you'll be glad to know that regular updates to this blog will be coming soon (more than just the Foodie Fridays!). We just finished a huge recipe testing event (spanned two days!) and as soon as the photos are updated I'll be featuring some of our yummy recipes again each week.